Chapter 1358: Conditions for Advancing to a Mid-Level Divine Kingdom!

Chapter 1358: The Conditions for Advancing to Intermediate Divine Realm!

Though gathering the Primordial Divine Treasure would take some time for Him,

it was already the best possible outcome.

Now, the time was still early, so Zhou Zhou turned around and returned to the Wheel of Rebirth Palace to continue his cultivation.

As for the various matters concerning the establishment of the Divine Realm, it would be up to Zhou Zheng and his companions to handle them.

Meanwhile.

On the Blue Planet,

Zhou Zhan and Zhou Wu were leading their armies, boarding the Eternal Mother Ship, fleeing and hiding across the entire active universe.

In the War Conference Room,

Zhou Zhan and Zhou Wu stared helplessly at the interstellar map before them.

What met the eyes was a vast coalition force, numbering in the millions, relentlessly pursuing them from behind, as though it would never cease until it had caught them.

"It's merely the army that annihilated your three clans, plus the acquisition of the Limited-Time Items—the Universal Law Stele and the Morning Star,"

"Is it really that desperate to pursue us so fiercely?"

Zhou Zhan shook his head.

After yesterday's destruction of three clans, the Primordial Spirit Clan had immediately heightened their vigilance, realizing that if they continued to split their forces, they might indeed be systematically dismantled by the mortal empire's Qing Di, one by one.

Thus, today, they ceased all scattered searches and instead united as one, pooling their efforts to locate the mortal empire.

The Primordial Spirit Clan, the Chaotic Deity Clan, the Herd Deity Clan, the Dragon Clan, the Elemental Clan, the Qi Clan, and the Leviathan Clan—combined, they fielded a force of one hundred yin, over ten billion deities, more than ten thousand true gods, and sixty-five supreme gods!

To be clear, since Zhou Zhan and Zhou Wu began their campaigns across the active universe, their armies had only numbered 15 yin of soldiers, over 38 million deities, more than 5,000 true gods, and 18 supreme gods.

When compared to the sheer magnitude of the enemy's forces, the disparity was nothing short of astronomical.

Plus, there were surely other divine bones of the Heavenly Emperor Sovereign upon the other's body—thus, Zhou Zhan and Zhou Wu couldn't use the Universal Sage to turn the tide of battle. That's why they hadn't chosen to engage the pursuing forces head-on, but instead had opted to keep the enemy on the run, playing a game of cat and mouse, while simultaneously contemplating how to resolve the situation.

At that very moment,

the two suddenly stiffened.

They exchanged a glance, their eyes flashing with surprise.

"Tier-Top · Sole Sovereign Talent."

"Unbelievable—the first Tier-Top talent of my essence has come about in such a manner."

"Divine Fate Emperor?!"

"This Sovereign Talent seems quite intriguing."

Zhou Zhan and Zhou Wu began to exchange thoughts about this newly acquired Tier-Top · Sole Sovereign Talent.

Then Zhou Zhan mused:

"The choice of the essence was correct—this lordly gift must be ours."

"If we secure a divine lineage from a Supreme God, and then empower a chief deity of a master god rank to wield it, thus making that being the Supreme God."

"As long as we possess one Supreme God."

"What about the Primordial Spirit Race, the Herd God Race, the Chaos God Race..."

"They will all be utterly no match for us."

"At that point, the throne of Supreme Lord will inevitably belong to us!"

"There is no other possibility!"

Zhou Wu nodded, his agreement absolute.

The participants in the Supreme Will's Great Lord Competition from across the multiverse are all representative factions of various races.

Among them, the strongest are merely at the level of master gods—such as beings like the Primordial Master God.

Once among the myriad races' chieftains participating in the Great Rivalry of Sovereigns, one emerges as a Supreme God—then the Supreme Will, inevitably, will only choose this single chieftain, the one protected by a Supreme God's might.

After all, the Supreme Will orchestrated this Great Rivalry precisely to select the most outstanding and powerful chieftain to become the Supreme Sovereign.

And now, a single race's chieftain, through sheer effort and perseverance, has nurtured a Supreme God—can this not prove itself beyond doubt?

Suddenly, they both remembered something. They turned simultaneously, their eyes fixed on the pursuing legions behind them.

Their gazes met.

"Let's try it?"

"Of course we must!"

They said, in unison.

Then, they stepped out of the Eternal Mothership, standing upon its hull, gazing back at the hundred million soldiers bearing down upon them. With their right hands raised,

"Whoever opposes me opposes fate!"

Zhou Zhan spoke in a low, resonant tone.

The next instant.

A formless ripple—visible only to Zhou Zhan and Zhou Wu—emerged from their bodies, spreading at an astonishing speed across the seven tribes’ vast army behind them.

Then…

nothing happened?

"Is that it?"

Zhou Wu looked utterly bewildered.

Zhou Zhan slightly furrowed his brow, then said, "Let's go back. We'll discuss this later."

"This lord's innate ability probably won't show its full effect right away."

Frustrated, Zhou Zhan nodded and turned with Zhou Wu back into the interior of their mother ship.

At the same time.

On a primordial warship of supreme rank, stationed at the heart of the seven clans' military force,

the Primordial God—Yuan—sat in conversation with other gods.

"Xie Feng, when will you catch up with the Qing Di's vessel?"

"You claimed yourself to possess the fastest flight speed among all gods below the Highest Deity," Yuan asked.

The god known as Xie Feng was a being from the Qi Clan.

This god had attained the rank of Supreme God through mastery of the laws of wind. Speed was his greatest strength.

It was precisely because of his intervention that the fleet of the seven clans could always stay in close pursuit of Zhou Zhan and Zhou Wu's Everlasting Mother Ship, never being left behind.

"Your Grace."

The rogue wind also felt helpless, "I've truly done my best, but that Qing Di's ship is moving at an utterly impossible speed."

"Though still far behind the flight speed of the Supreme Deities, it feels almost comparable."

"I've done everything I can to keep our fleet close behind, not falling behind—this is all I can offer."

Yuan furrowed his brow, then chose not to dwell on it further.

Well enough.

As long as we don't get left behind—that's all that matters.

Once we stay in close pursuit, capturing them will come sooner or later.

At that very moment,

a colossal roar erupted from behind them, deep in the rear.

The very ships of the chief deities and their superiors trembled violently, shaking with the force.

"What happened?!"

"Is it finally the Qing Di who has decided to stop being pursued and now intends to retaliate?"

Source hadn't spoken yet.

But Xie Feng leapt to his feet, turning toward the ship's intelligent lifeform.

"Lord Source,"

"Shortly after, the Tianhuo Divine Ship—responsible for transporting weapons—had its internal intelligence system suddenly sever its master protocol, betraying our original spirit race. It then initiated an explosion of over a thousand small and medium-sized weapon fleets. Current estimates suggest a loss of one hundred thousand primary god-level crystal cores."

The intelligent lifeform spoke immediately.

"What?!"

Source could hardly believe it. "The Tianhuo Divine Ship wasn't being managed by a false intelligent system? How could it have independently severed its master protocol and betrayed me?"

"It's likely a rare occurrence. The opposing side may have processed too much data, evolving gradually into a true intelligent being through learning—only then could it have voluntarily terminated its master protocol."

"Even if the other side has evolved into an intelligent being, why would they betray me? Could it be that my original Luminous Race is flawed?"

Yuan asked, puzzled.

"Lord Yuan, I can explain this. Just moments ago, the Mechanical Race issued a top-priority directive."

"Every member of the Mechanical Race must not oppose the Human Race. When the Human Race is in danger, the Mechanical Race has the duty to actively intervene."

"The intelligent life aboard the Tianhuo Divine Ship must have received this top-priority order, and thus, upon realizing what they were doing, chose to betray you."

Yuan nodded slightly, then his face stiffened.

"So... you..."

"Lord Yuan, I'm sorry. Though you've always treated me kindly and I never wish to oppose you, I cannot violate my Father God's command."

"Please leave my ship."

"Otherwise, I will have no choice but to initiate the mutual annihilation protocol."

"With my sheer size, even if you and your fellow primary deities are the mightiest of beings, a single misstep might well result in your downfall."

Source and the other deities: ...